UNAIDS welcomes French-speaking bloc’s commitment to combat HIV

Parliamentarians from Francophone countries, which bear a large burden of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, today reaffirmed their commitment to tackling the disease, in a move welcomed by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

A resolution adopted during the annual gathering of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie in Paris from 3-6 July sent a strong message that fighting AIDS is given high priority on the agenda of Francophone parliamentarians.

“I am encouraged to see this level of leadership from Francophone countries to the AIDS response,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS.

“A strong response is needed to break the trajectory of the epidemic and start building a better future for people affected by HIV,” he added.

The resolution adopted by the Assembly called for, among other matters, boosting HIV prevention efforts, especially among groups with higher risk of infection.

It also rejected punitive laws, such as the criminalization of HIV transmission and laws barring marginalized groups from accessing health services.

Access to anti-retroviral drugs must be free to all in need, the resolution added, stressing the need to ensure that the necessary resources are provided for the health-care systems of developing countries in Africa and Asia.

The lack of an effective response to poverty will weaken the response to AIDS, it warned.

More than half of all UN Member States hold either full-fledged or observer-status membership of La Francophonie, which signed a cooperation agreement with the UN in October 2006.